Pokemon Three Friends
by AlternateUniversal
Summary: It has been a long time since Ash Ketchum became a pokemon master. Now three new trainers leave Pallet to begin their own journey, many things will be tested on their quest, including their friendship. Will they and their pokemon have what it takes to win eight gym battles, enter the pokemon league, and most of all to become the very best like no one ever was.
1. Chapter 1

The sun shone high in the noon sky, creating a very hot day, much to the annoyance of a young girl by the name of Charlotte. She sat under a tree trying to gain any available shade that could be provided as she examined her new pokedex. A white and red pokeball was lying by her side as she did so, she lifted her head revealing a pair of green eyes, "Do you see him yet Mark" she called over to her friend. The brown haired boy didn't seem bothered by the heat at all as he was clad in a pair of tan running shorts and a white tea shirt his blue eyes scanned the area before him. Lying against his leg was a small blue squirtle who didn't seem to have the same ideas about the sun as his trainer did. What with its cross expression and crossed arms.

"Nope, he's running late Charlotte, as usual" said Mark with a hint of snarkiness. Charlotte sighed and went back to looking at her pokedex the pokeball at her side shook and out came the blue green speckled bulbasaur that was her partner the little bulb Pokémon gave a happy little noise and poked Charlotte with a vine. Charlotte looked up surprised she smiled at her partner and gave its nose a boop right back.

"Dex always shows up, he's just, not always on time" said Charlotte to Mark, watching her bulbasaur waddle out of the shade and soak in the sunlight. The two of them had been with their partners for about an hour at that point. They'd said that they with their friend Dex would make their journey together, they just needed to wait for Dex to actually join them before they could get going. Mark had left his pack by the tree Charlotte was sheltering under the same place she'd left hers, so that they could move unencumbered if need be.

"You mean, he's never on time. and... There he is" said Mark. Charlotte got to her feet and grabbed both of their packs, she handed Mark his as she shouldered her own. Sure enough their red headed friend was barreling down the road waving at them. As he got closer it was apparent he had a hitch hiker a little charmander looking over his shoulder and it held onto his back. Mark's squirtle gave a little huff at the fact he was expected to get up but got to its feet anyway.

"Hey guys, sorry I took so long, I got a little turned around. Oh hey Mark is that yours" said Dex, Dex was a nickname short for Dexter but the boy preferred to be called by his nickname. He crouched down, which caused the charmander to chirp in protest, he extended a finger to the squirtle, who turned its nose up at him. Dex harrumphed and got back up, his partner took the opportunity to drop to the ground. The squirtle was far more interested in Dex's pokemon than it was in Dex himself. The water type walked forward to inspect the charmander. The shy pokemon gave an alarmed "char" and hid behind Dex's leg.

Charlotte's bulbasaur bounded over to join them as Charlotte crouched down to see Dex's charmander. "It's really cute Dex" she said. "Cute, maybe, but strong. Not more than mine" said Mark, in his haughty attitude. Dex chuckled used to his friend's hard to get along with personality. Mark could be annoying but he was a good pal. "Thanks for waiting guys" said Dex. The bulbasaur reached out a vine to the charmander who out of curiosity poked out of its hiding place, only to get spooked when the vine poked its nose and go right back behind the leg of its trainer. The little fire lizard scurried back up onto Dex's back to avoid being poked by the curious vines of the bulbasaur, and with that the three friends started on their way. The giant mound of trees just ahead of them being the Viridian Forest was their goal at least for today, afterwards their destination would be the Pewter City gym, to obtain Boulder Badges.

"I just realized something" said Mark just before they entered the forest. "When we run into Wild Pokemon how are we gonna decide who gets to catch it". Charlotte and Dex stopped for a minute to consider that. "What about a battle" asked Dex? Mark grinned.

"That seems like a fair way to figure out the order of dibs" said Mark. He gestured for his squirtle to go forward, to which the water type had no problem with, crossing its little turtle arms in a smug fashion copying its trainer. "Let's win Bulbasaur" said Charlotte, her little grass type gave a "Bulba" as it hopped forward facing the squirtle. Dex was having a bit more difficulty. He tried unsuccessfully to get charmander to join the battle, his little fire type clung to his leg for dear life, "come on charmander you can take 'em" he said. The only return was a distressed "Chaaaaarrr", but eventually the charmander did let go, it faced its two opponents with a very cowardly disposition.

"Squirtle rapid spin" called out Mark, he'd checked what his pokemon could do with his pokedex the second he'd gotten it and wasn't disappointed. His starter already had four moves at its disposal. "Squirt" said the squirtle before putting all of its limbs into its shell. The brown shell would spin rapidly and move with alarming speed in bulbasaur's direction. "Bulbasaur, counter with vine whip" called Charlotte. Her partner nodded its head and two vines came out of its bulb wrapping around the shell and trying to get a grip onto it. Unfortunately the squirtle's momentum was not to be stopped. It slammed into the bulb pokemon at full speed. Knocking bulbasaur into the huddling mass of charmander.

The little fire pokemon gave a very scared noise and hit the grass type with an ember, effectively knocking it out. Squirtle looked at the charmander, but Mark kept his pokemon in place long enough for Charlotte to return Bulbasaur to its ball for some rest. "Squirtle bubble beam" commanded Mark.

"Charmander, pop his bubbles with an ember" shouted Dex. Fortunately his easily frightened pokemon obeyed and fired off an ember, meeting the bubblebeam in mid air all of the bubbles were popped and the space between the battlers was covered in mist. Charmander looked back and forth horrified at the fact it could no longer see its opponent. "Hey charmander" said Dex. His partner looked at him, its fear still apparent in its eyes. "It'll be alright, I know that things can be scary but you can do this. You're tough and squirtle's already been hit once. Just listen to me and I know that you can take him". Charmander looked shocked, it had never thought of that, maybe it could win. She got a determined look on her face and turned around back towards the now fading mist. Dex grinned, happy now that his pokemon was showing a bit of backbone.

"Squirtle, use pound" Mark's voice could be heard and the shadow of his squirtle came into sight. "Charmander, scratch" said Dex. Charmander waited for the squirtle to close the distance and scratched it just at it tried to ram her. The two pokemon stopped as both of their attacks connected at the same time. "Charmander, we've got him right where we want him, smog" called Dex. Charmander opened her mouth and released a cloud of black smoke connecting directly to squirtle's face. The water turtle who was now blinded stumbled around a bit, "Get ahold of yourself squirtle" called out Mark but it landed on deaf ears.

"Charmander, let's finish this, Fury swipes" called out Dex. "CHARMANDER" charmander let out its version of a terrifying roar, and it swiped mercilessly out at the squirtle, hitting it four times. It was too much for the water type and it fell onto its back, and fainted. "Good job Dex, better luck next time Mark" called out Charlotte, with her now recovered bulbasaur sitting at attention on her lap. For once Charmander looked proud it held its head high as it soaked in victory. Dex grabbed the little fire lizard below its arms and lifted it up to face him, "that was awesome Charmander, I knew you could do it" Dex praised. A couple of vines creeped up and patted Charmander on the head. Dex put his pokemon on the ground so that Bulbasaur would have an easier time getting to it. Bulbasaur put her head to the side and nodded good temperedly, gently patting Charmander on the head, making sure Charmander knew there were no hard feelings. Mark had returned his pokemon to its ball and said, "whatever". And with that the three of them took their first steps into the forest. With Charlotte, and Dex returning their pokemon to their pokeballs to save their smaller legs the travel.

The forest was very loud, a flock of pidgy flew in the sky above them, while a spearow scrutinized the three humans from the trees. Mark pointed to the spearow, "Are you gonna go for that one" he said looking at Dex. Dex had seen the bird but wasn't interested in catching it. "Nah Mark, go ahead" said Dex. Mark grinned and released his squirtle who seemed to have recovered from its last battle. The squirtle crossed its arms and looked over its shoulder at Mark. "Squirtle, use rapid spin on that tree" said Mark. Squirtle turned to face the tree realized why his trainer had told him to do that and he threw himself at the tree after going into his shell. The spearow did not fly out of the tree, it was knocked from its branch where it landed on the ground.

The bird pokemon shook itself and faced the squirtle. "Squirtle, water gun" called Mark. His squirtle opened his mouth as the spearow flew towards him and knocked it out of the sky where the spearow fainted and landed on its side. Mark threw a pokeball at the Spearow which all three travelers watched shake once... twice... and finally three times. When it stopped shaking Mark walked over and retreived his pokeball. Grinning pridefully as even though he'd lost the battle he'd still been the first of them to catch a wild pokemon.

"Good catch Mark" said Dex getting up and stretching. Charlotte got up as well. As they'd both just sat back to watch their friend battle it out. "Yeah your squirtle's really strong" said Charlotte. Mark grinned taking in the praise though he'd never show it warmed his heart to hear his friends saying nice things about him. He returned Squirtle to his pokeball before they continued on. "What do you think you'll want to catch Charlotte" asked Dex? Charlotte looked up for a bit before answering.

"I don't know why you're asking me, you get first choice" she said. Dex waved that off. "Nah, I just wanted to win that battle to boost Charmander's confidence, if you want to catch the next pokemon then go ahead" he said. Charlotte looked up, "That one's cute" she said. Looking up Dex, and Mark saw what she was referring to, a caterpie was moseying its way across a branch above them. "A bug"? Said Mark in disbelief. Dex shrugged, "You did always like weird stuff Charlotte" he said. Charlotte released her bulbasaur ignoring both of their jibes. "Bulbasaur, I want to catch that Caterpie. Knock it down but don't be too rough okay" she said looking down at her partner.

Bulbasaur nodded once and gave a happy little face. Bulbasaur took a step back and lined up the shot, the caterpie had stopped after noticing the three humans were giving it so much attention. Bulbasaur fired off a razor leaf and hit the caterpie head on. Knocking the little bug pokemon out of the tree. The caterpie must've been rather weak for the fall and razor leaf was enough to knock it out cold, but Charlotte didn't seem to mind. She threw a pokeball and successfully captured the little bug type. She picked up her used pokeball and returned the happily celebrating Bulbasaur.

"I can't believe you won the battle and still want to go last" said Mark as they continued walking. Dex shrugged. Charlotte interrupted them, "Mark, why don't you send your Spearow to find the way to Pewter city for us" she said. Mark didn't want to admit she had a good idea but she did have a good idea so he released his new pokemon which looked at the three trainers with a lazy eye.

"Spearow, fly around the area and find us the quickest way to a place called Pewter city there should be a big building there that looks really... Rocky" said Mark, not sure how to make sure the pokemon knew what to look for. Spearow cawed at Mark and flew into the sky, hopefully it had gotten enough information.

There was a rustle in the grass beside of Dex and a purple horn poked out of the undergrowth followed by the rest of a purple nidoran. The poison type pokemon held a blue berry in its mouth and looked around at the humans who were just as surprised to see the pokemon as it was to see them. Dex pulled out Charmander's pokeball deciding this was the pokemon he wanted to catch. "Get him Charmander" he said as his pokemon was released in a flash of light. Charmander may be a little braver than she was before but she still gave her surroundings a frightened look around as she took in the situation. Eventually she regained composure and faced down the Nidoran. The Nidoran dropped its berry and charged at Charmander.

Mark and Charlotte took a seat on the sidelines. Mark was waiting for Spearow to return and Charlotte was giggling as her new Caterpie wiggled its way up her arm before settling onto her hair. "Charmander, stop him with scratch" commanded Dex. Charmander did as she was bid but it didn't stop Nidoran from landing a solid hit on her both pokemon stumbled back Charmander looking worse for wear than Nidoran.

"Ember" called Dex. Charmander took a deep breath and let loose a flurry of fire. Hitting Nidoran square on, the poison pokemon still held on, it charged forward without giving Charmander a chance to dodge. Charmander was knocked off of her feet. "Are you alright Charmander"? Charmander gritted her teeth and got back to her feet. "Char" she said. It was an obvious "Yes". "Alright Charmander, hit him with an ember again". Charmander did as she was bid. Nidoran took the attack like a champ still standing although shaky. Dex threw a pokeball gauging that Nidoran looked plenty weak enough, but the Nidoran smacked it away with its horn.

"Charmander, he's almost out just hit him with a scratch" said Dex. Charmander ran forward and slashed at the Nidoran with her claws. The Nidoran was one tough cookie but even it couldn't take that hit, it fainted. Dex threw another pokeball and this time it hit its mark. Effectively catching the poison type, and Dex returned Charmander to her pokeball.

"Pewter city is just down this trail, apparently" said Mark walking over with his Spearow now on his shoulder. They looked at the sky, all their battling and catching had spent the entire day, so they all agreed to set up camp. Dex with the help of Charmander set up a fire, and cooked up a good dinner, with the food he'd taken from home, Mark, Charlotte, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle set up two tents. One for Charlotte, and one for the boys. Dinner was done soon enough, and the three trainers released all of their pokemon to eat. The Pokemon all seemed to get along, even Nidoran took to sniffing the other pokemon, he was very careful not to poke any of them with his horn. The only two who didn't really get along were Spearow and Caterpie that was to be expected of a bird and a bug. After Spearow pecked Caterpie once, Bulbasaur made sure that the two were well separated. Squirtle was a bit icy towards the others, especially Charmander whom he didn't quite forgive for beating him in a battle earlier. Once dinner was over all the pokemon were returned to their pokeballs, and the boys and Charlotte went to their respective tents. It didn't take long for two of them to go to sleep but late at night there was movement in the boys tent.

It was Mark fully dressed for travel with his pack on his back, both of his pokemon were in their balls holstered on his belt. Mark looked back once before taking off down the trail being careful not to make much sound, Dex wasn't going to beat him again.

When he woke up that morning Dex noticed something about Mark, or more accurately the lack of him. The red haired boy got to a sitting position, there was a note laid where Mark had made his bed.

_See you at the League_

Was all that was written on it. Dex huffed, of course Mark just had to do his own thing. When he got outside there was an arrow scribbled into the dirt pointing down the trail. Charlotte seemed to have had a similar note deposited in her tent. "So... He's gone" said Charlotte her Bulbasaur was already out of its pokeball. She must've let it sleep in the tent with her.

"Should've seen this coming to be honest, Mark does like doing his own thing" said Dex rubbing the back of his neck. He released Charmander, and Nidoran so that they could eat a bit of a breakfast of berries and leftovers. Charlotte did the same with her caterpie and afterwards the two of them put their pokemon back into their pokeballs and began to walk down the trail. There were other pokemon but neither trainer was really in a mood for catching.

Charlotte's caterpie took a perch on her shoulder she seemed to really like it, and it seemed to return the sentiment. Nuzzling her in return when she rubbed its head. How she could be so affectionate with a bug was beyond Dex, not that he hated bug types, they just weren't awesome in his eyes. Suddenly a trio of trainers hopped in their path.

"Halt, to reach Pewter city you must first fight the amazing fighter trio" said the one in the middle. Dex and Charlotte looked at each other. Charlotte lifted her arm and her caterpie hopped off and landed on the ground.

"I'm gonna let Caterpie take it" said Charlotte. Dex nodded, it wasn't a bad idea to let their new pokemon train a little.

"That's a good idea Charlotte, let's see what you can do Nidoran" shouted Dex as he threw the little poison rabbit's pokeball. Nidoran let out a screech at the challengers.

"So, you think you can throw out a pair of untested pokemon and still beat us. That alone shows that you're green. Beedrill take them" said the squat man on the left. The skinny woman on the right released her pokemon, a rattata.

The decision was quickly and non-verbally made that Nidoran would take the Beedrill, and Caterpie would take the rattata. "Nidoran use horn attack" called out Dex. Nidoran lowered his head and barreled towards the opposing wasp.

"Parry it with Twineedle" called Beedrill's trainer. The bug type made a buzzing noise and flew towards Nidoran. Stinger met horn as the two poison types clashed head on. The two grunted as they both tried to overpower the other. Beedrill was fully evolved opposed to Nidoran only being in his base form, but it appeared that the purple horned pokemon packed a lot of power in his small body. Only a bit to their right the rattata was running circles around Caterpie. The little worm Pokémon couldn't keep up with the nimbler normal type.

"Use string shot Caterpie" ordered Charlotte. Caterpie gave a determined squeak and squirted a line of sticky string to slow down the rattata. The rat pokemon was hit with the string shot effectively being blinded and immobilized. "Now, bug bite" said Charlotte. The little Caterpie wriggled forward and nibbled on the rattata hitting it hard.

Nidoran and Beedrill's stalemate ended. With an audible clang Beedrill knocked Nidoran's horn aside, and smacked the purple rabbit aside like a rag doll. Nidoran crashed against a tree hard and when he fell he didn't get back up. "How are you going to beat a gym if you can't even beat me" teased the squat man. Caterpie was doing a bit better but not by much. A good bite from the rattata knocked the little bug type out for the count.

"Walk out of this forest and train, only come back when you can actually beat us" called the man in the middle who was dressed like some sort of samurai. Dex called his Nidoran back into his pokeball, Charlotte was quick to do the same with Caterpie.

"Hey, did any of you three happen to run into another trainer last night. He'd be around our age, with short brown hair, he'd have a Squirtle, or a Spearow" asked Charlotte. The trio looked at each other and the Samurai cuffed the other two over the head.

"I told you it looked like someone had moved past this area in the night. That's it, every night one of us is standing guard here. I'll do it tonight, and we'll switch off" said the samurai who was apparently the leader of the three. Dex, and Charlotte left the three while they were arguing. On their way back to Pallet City, to heal their Pokémon and train for a second attempt.

At the other end of the forest a boy was sitting on a bench trying to read a map. The massive blot that was Pallet city dominated the bottom left corner, the area that had been route one a good ten years ago was gone, since Viridian and Pallet had merged into a single monster of a city, and Mark was trying to figure out where to go, after he surely stomped the Pewter City Gym. On his shoulder his Spearow snuggled in a relaxing doze, his squirtle kicked its little feet, in impatience beside of him. The little blue water type had its arms crossed as he looked at his trainer with annoyance.

"Pika"? There was a noise right under their nose. Mark lowered the map and saw a yellow mouse Pokémon with twin red spots on its cheeks and a lightning shaped tail. It cocked its head at the boy and his two Pokémon. "Get lost" said Mark with an ugly expression. The Pikachu hopped back a step before looking behind it. From its posture one could already guess that the electric type was lost and confused, this boy's temperament didn't seem to assist the little Pokémon's self-esteem. It gave a distressed squeak before turning and running.

Mark huffed and went back to reading the map. His Squirtle hopped off of its seat and began to pace on the ground, suddenly Mark's reading was interrupted for a second time by a voice. "That wasn't very nice" the boy looked up from his map again to see a hooded man sitting cross legged on a bench beside of him.

"_That _wasn't any of your business" countered Mark, immediately going back to his map. The man tsked. Causing Mark to grit his teeth in annoyance. What was this guy to tell him how to act? He didn't even know why he cared so much; he didn't know this guy.

"It may not be _any of my buisness _but you should treat pokemon with respect, and that was uncalled for, it looked like it was asking you for help. I never really knew a trainer who would turn down the opportunity to add a new pokemon to his team, especially a new one, eh Firestorm" said the hooded man. There was a low growl from under the bench where the man was sitting, Mark glanced over and noticed the man had a pokemon of his own, but not one that he'd ever seen before outside of a book or a television. It was a Pyroar, a pokemon from the Kalos region. It made Mark curious just how this man had gotten ahold of it.

"I don't want to catch a Pikachu" said Mark. "Simple as that I didn't want to get attached". He went back to his map ignoring the man and his lion pokemon.

"That's a weak excuse. You didn't even know if it was wild, maybe it was looking for its trainer and thought you could help it. There was no reason to be so rotten to it" said the man. "You should at least go find it and apologize to it". Mark folded his paper and glared at the man.

"If I go find this thunder rat and apologize to it, will you leave me alone" said Mark. The boy's movements were enough to rouse his Spearow from sleep. It cawed in alarm and fluttered off of his shoulder.

The man removed his hood and revealed an unruly mane of black hair as well as a tan face. He nodded once "yes I suppose that will make me leave you alone, for now at least" said the man.

"Fine I'll go find it and say I'm sorry or whatever" said Mark getting up and stomping off where the Pikachu had run off to. His Squirtle made a noise and hopped off the bench, following him. His Spearow flapped after them.

The man chuckled a bit after the boy left his sight. "Do you think he's actually going to do it Firestorm" he said to his pokemon. Firestorm grunted in response before yawning widely as if tired. "Oh, don't call it too soon, he might have potential". The Pyroar grunted once more before resting his head on his paws.

Mark moved down a path unsure of why he was even doing this, he didn't need some random man's approval, but as much as he hated to admit it he felt a bit bad about the way he'd growled at that Pikachu. It didn't take him long to find it, the electric rodent Pokemon barreled towards him down the street. Mark planted himself in its way and held out his hands. "Stop" he commanded bluntly. His Squirtle joined him in spreading its little arms. Spearow didn't seem interested in joining the little blockade. The Pikachu stopped and looked over its shoulder like it was being chased by someone.

"I just stopped to say I'm sorry for how I was to you earlier. I was in a bad move and I shouldn't have taken that out on you" said Mark. The Pikachu seemed shocked at the formerly awful boy's words but it didn't have long to be shocked, a pair of men wearing black suits with a red R sewn on the shirt appeared behind the Pikachu.

"Step away from our catch kid, that Pikachu is ours" said the men. Mark raised a brow and looked down at the terrified pokemon. It didn't look like it was theirs, it looked scared out of its wits by their presence, and these guys's outfits were ringing some kind of bell in the back of Mark's mind. Wait a minute, their uniforms were like team rocket. An old criminal organization that used to operate in Kanto until their team leader finally got caught by the law and their organization had toppled, that should've been twenty years ago if Mark remembered his history right.

"I don't think it is" said Mark crossing his arms. His spearow fluttered down and joined him as his squirtle raised itself up mirroring his trainer's stance.

"The hard way it is then" said one of the men. Bringing out a pokeball and releasing a snubull. The other man laughed.

"Bringing out that ugly thing again" he said. Throwing out his own pokemon, a ferocious looking Primeape. The one who'd sent out the snubull seemed a tad insulted at his comrade's remark.

"Spearow quick attack, Squirtle rapid spin" commanded Mark, knowing his only chance to beat that Primeape would be to take it down fast. Squirtle hit the snubull straight in the face knocking the pink bulldog pokemon clean out. Spearow's attack didn't go over as easily.

"Knock it away with a mach punch" said the Rocket grunt. The Primeape did just that sending Spearow sprawling into a knock out. Not even a type advantage had allowed the small bird to take the attack. Squirtle faced the scary looking monkey pokemon. Spearow had had an advantage being a flying type but even a generally weak attack like mach punch had knocked it clean out, Mark didn't know if Squirtle stood any chance at all.

"Fireblast" came a familiar and domineering voice. A huge symbol made of fire propelled itself into the face of the primeape knocking it back a few steps. Mark turned around to see that man from earlier, flanked by his pyroar had appeared on the scene.

"Who tha hell are you" said the rocket Grunt who'd sent out the snubull.

"Just someone who quite dislikes those who would use pokemon in such a perverse way. I know your plans for that Pikachu, and I must say, Really? A battery charger, that seems a tad ridiculous" said the man who'd come to Mark and the Pikachu's rescue. Mark took the distraction to put Spearow back into her pokeball. He felt small hands on the back of his leg as the Pikachu took shelter there.

"Shuddup" said the Primeape trainer. "Primeape use karate chop". The monkey pokemon ran at the mysterious man who didn't make a move.

"Firestorm, please use Overheat, but be careful. Don't want to hurt the boy" said the man. His pyroar leapt forward now surrounded by an aura of flame. It slashed out with a fiery claw and sent the Primeape flying head over heel, the fighting type recovered quickly but it was obviously on its last legs. "Finish him with a flamethrower" said the man. Firestorm opened his maw and let out a stream of fire slamming into the Primeape and knocking it out.

"Aww crap, he beat ya, Sanders" said the Snubull trainer.

"I can see that Fred" said Sanders returning the Primeape to its pokeball, Fred did the same to his unconscious Snubull and they both ran for the hills. Leaving Mark, the Pikachu, and the mystery man alone.

"You did well Firestorm, have a rest" said the mystery man returning Firestorm to a fiery decorated pokeball. "You did well, kid. Even if I did have to save you from that Primeape".

"Okay, who are you" said Mark pointing at him. The Pikachu finally let go of Mark's leg and backtracked right into Squirtle. Who threw a little water gun his way, out of meanness.

"Exactly who I am is of little importance to you, my name is Lambert. I was in the area and had caught a whiff of the New Team Rocket trying to exploit a Pikachu as some kind of charger and when I saw you, I figured you looked like you could use a new Team Mate more than I could" said Lambert, introducing himself and gesturing to the little electric type.

Mark scrutinized the pokemon who was looking at him with a mixture of excitement and anxiety. "It'll be tough, and if you can't keep up you'll get left behind" he said. Pikachu nodded quickly. "Pikapi" said the Pikachu who seemed to be alright with any condition so long as he got to join the team of his new hero. "Alright then" said Mark. Bringing out a pokeball and gently throwing it at the Pikachu, the ball wiggled a bit and then settled. Mark picked it up and looked at it.

"He might not help you out much against Brock but when you get to Cerulean he'll come in handy" said Lambert. "The Gym's that way if you're having trouble finding it" advised Lambert. He gave a backwards wave to the boy before turning away and walking down the street.

Mark looked in the way Lambert had waved and saw the massive domineering shape of the Pewter City Gym. He left Spearow at the pokemon center before he went to the gym. He couldn't contain his excitement at the thought of going into the gym and challenging the Gym Leader.

He went into the building and found a man who pointed him to a huge door that led into a gigantic room. It was an oval of solid rock surrounded by a moat of crystal clear water. Mark remembered that a long time ago the Pewter City gym had solely specialized in rock type pokemon but at some point had included water type pokemon in the gym, which of course didn't count for too much seeing as the current Gym Leader, Brock was famous for sticking with the old ways and only using rock type pokemon, with rare exceptions to keep trainers on their toes.

A door opened on the opposite side of the oval and out he came. Brock still looked quite good for a man who was getting on in his years, his hair didn't show any signs of graying and there were very few wrinkles on his face, he took in Mark with a gaze as he moved across the platform where he was meant to stand during a battle. "I'm Mark from Pallet City, and I've come to challenge this Gym for a badge" said Mark.

Brock furrowed his brow at his challenger and called out "Mark, huh, Aren't you Ash's boy"

**And that is chapter one done. One doozy of a writing if I do say so myself, I don't have much to say about this first chapter but I do thank you for reading this far if you did, and I hope that you liked it. **


	2. Chapter 2

On an upper floor in a Pallet City pokemon Center, Charlotte sat upon a hastily made bed looking through her pokedex. On the bed just beside the one where Charlotte was sitting Dex lounged on his back, kicking his leg impatiently. Their pokemon were active and either running or sitting around the room. Bulbasaur was standing in the middle of the floor playing with Charmander and Caterpie by allowing them to chase her vine whips around the room. The two of them seemed to be having a blast at the game and Bulbasaur seemed pleased to be able to keep them happy and occupied. Nidoran was curled up at the foot of Dex's bed all but deaf to the world, he had recovered from his battle with Beedrill physically, but he'd barely moved since they came into the room and had pretty much ignored any attempt at communication from the two trainers or any of their pokemon. "Hey Charlotte, why do you think Mark ran off" asked Dex?

Charlotte sighed and closed her pokedex. "I don't know Dex, remember when we used to talk about starting our journey's together Mark would always go on and on about what he was going to do and when we spoke about our plans it was always something along the lines of 'oh I'm sure you'll get to that'. Notice he never said _we_. My guess is he was planning on ditching us from the very start" answered Charlotte. Dex nodded as if he remembered, Charmander finally caught ahold of one of Bulbasaur's vines and there was a loud cheer from the three pokemon. Nidoran simply snuggled tighter into a ball and apparently tried to tune them out.

"I just can't believe he went and did it, we've been best friends for as long as I can remember" said Dex. "We'll just have to catch up to him, and get his side of the story". Charlotte raised a brow at Dex, she personally thought he had a bit too much faith in their wayward friend.

"Well we're never gonna catch up to Mark by sitting here and moping. Let's get to training" said Charlotte. Dex immediately sat up straight and pumped his right arm, he gave off a big grin.

"Now that's what I'm talking about" said Dex, forgetting his sad attitude about Mark at the prospect of making their pokemon stronger and moving on to Pewter City. He turned to their pokemon, "Are you ready" he called. Charmander took on a determined pose showing off some of her new confidence. Dex was happy he wouldn't have the problem of her clinging to his leg to get out of a battle in the future, now she looked like she'd take on anything the world threw at them. Caterpie gave an excited squeak whilst scurrying over to Charlotte's bed. Bulbasaur went to sit beside of the bug type and looked up at her trainer expectantly. Nidoran wasn't as keen as the others, the rabbit like poison type lifted his head at his trainer's words but afterwards he put his head back on his paws. Dex frowned.

Charlotte had an idea, "I'll take Charmander outside with Caterpie, and Bulbasaur. If you would... Take care of Nidoran" she said not knowing the right word for what Dex had to give Nidoran besides the simple phrase 'pep talk' she wasn't willing to use.

"That's a good idea" said Dex. "Go out and start training with Charlotte Charmander". Charmander nodded and followed the girl outside with her two pokemon. Once they were gone Dex crouched down beside of Nidoran. He extended a hand and gently began to pat Nidoran on the side, being very careful to avoid the poison type's spikes. "What's up with you Nidoran? You haven't really been yourself since that Beedrill beat you yesterday" said Dex. Nidoran visibly winced when Dex mentioned his battle with the Beedrill. "So that's it. You feel bad that Beedrill beat you" Dex guessed. For the first time that morning Nidoran got to his feet, but he wouldn't look Dex in the eye, with his eyes glued to the floor Nidoran nodded once.

"Well you don't need to. You're really strong Nidoran, but right now there are lots of pokemon who are stronger than you, but guess what" said Dex, he waited for a few seconds to let that question sink in. Nidoran seemed to be lost in his trainer's words. "You're only gonna get stronger. We've all got a long way to go, but we're gonna get there someday, but that's only gonna happen if we work together, and train hard to win. Are you with me Nidoran" Dex asked? He held out his fist to Nidoran, the poison type got a determined look on his face and moved forward to press his nose against his trainer's fist.

"Alright then, let's head outside and get to training" said Dex. Nidoran hopped up, full of energy for the first time since he'd lost to that giant wasp. The trainer and pokemon rushed outside to find Charlotte had set up three equally sized training dummies, out of sticks she must've found around the yard. A few people had stopped to watch the girl give commands to the three pokemon. "Bulbasaur, use vine whip, Caterpie, use String shot. Charmander try out an ember", Dex heard her commands and wondered what she was trying to accomplish by having their pokemon train on dummies, but then he realized it was all about accuracy. The more effectively their pokemon would be able to land hits the better.

"Nice going Charlotte, wanna get to some battle training" he said. Charlotte looked over, she looked over the other pokemon and she looked like she had an idea. Charlotte almost always had ideas, she was good at that.

"That sounds good, Dex I think it'd be good for Caterpie, to go against Charmander" she said. Looking at the little bug who looked up at the use of his name. Charmander looked up as well and Dex agreed with Charlotte's idea.

"You up for it Charmander" asked Dex looking at his shy pokemon. Charmander nodded "char" she responded. "Alright then, let's get ready to go" he said. Charmander hopped forward, and Caterpie scurried forward.

"Use scratch Charmander" called out Dex, Charmander ran forward at Caterpie and scratched the bug type across his face. Charlotte stood still with her arms crossed not giving any orders. Caterpie looked backwards at his trainer and squeaked in distress moving its small limbs around in hysteria, but Charlotte made no move to give a command. "Charlotte, you do know how training works, right" asked Dex.

"I know what I'm doing" was her only answer. Caterpie would've allowed his jaw to drop, if he had a jaw that could actually drop. His trainer was basically leaving him out to dry.

"Okay. Charmander use ember" ordered Dex. Charmander nodded, she lifted her head back and released a small fireball that flew towards Caterpie. The little bug looked very distressed, but he was unwilling to make a move without being told to by his trainer so he kept his nerve and was hit directly. Being a bug type the fire type attack hit Caterpie hard, knocking the worm onto his back, but the fight wasn't all out of Caterpie yet, he lifted himself back up into a fighting stance and bravely faced down his opponent who would undoubtedly faint him in the next attack if his trainer didn't issue a command.

And then he started glowing.

A bright white light surrounded Caterpie's body and he began to change, and when that was over he was no longer a little worm. He was a bigger green mass in the shape of a crescent moon, Caterpie had evolved into a Metapod.

"That's what I was waiting for, Metapod use Harden, do it as many times as you can" Charlotte shouted. Metapod narrowed his eyes and his new hard exterior reflected a silver sheen as he used the move harden multiple times. It seemed that Charlotte had been planning this little move and had let Caterpie know beforehand, which may explain the act Caterpie was putting on when Charlotte didn't give any orders.

"Well we can't just let'em do that Charmander, hit him with another ember" called out Dex. Charmander fired off another ember this one hit Metapod right on the nose but this time it had very little effect, despite having a type advantage.

"Hit her with a tackle Metapod" said Charlotte. Metapod made no sound and rammed into Charmander with its hardened exoskeleton. Doing a lot of extra damage because of how hard Metapod's exoskeleton was, Charmander was down for the count. "That was great Metapod" said Charlotte walking over and hefting her newly evolved pokemon into her arms. She put him back down with a grunt. "Whew, you got heavier".

"You'll get them next time Charmander" said Dex not knowing for sure whether or not his fainted pokemon could hear him. He returned her to her pokeball. "How did you know Caterpie was about to evolve" he asked?

"I've done a lot of research, Caterpie evolve very quickly and I figured that all he needed was a bit of a push and he'd evolve, so I came up with this masterplan and told him about it" Charlotte told him. Dex muttered something that sounded like sneaky and went back into the pokemon center to drop off Charmander. He came back outside and said "Alright then smarty, how about Nidoran vs Bulbasaur".

Charlotte gave a grin and called Bulbasaur to her side, Nidoran hopped over to Dex and the two faced off in a training battle.

**Now back to Mark's journey.**

Mark was taken aback by Brock's conclusion. Of course the first thing the gym leader of his first gym battle would realize about him would be his father. Why had he expected anything different, that's all anybody noticed about him. Except for Charlotte and Dexter, for the first time since he'd gone his own way he felt bad for leaving them, but he shook the guilt off. He'd sworn that he'd make his journey on his own, if he had to leave those two behind to do that so be it. "Yeah I guess I am" growled Mark through clenched teeth.

"I knew your father well, we journeyed together a long time ago, I expect he's taught you a lot" said Brock. "I accept your challenge, Mark of Pallet City". He threw a pokeball forward and out came a screeching Geodude. "Since I assume this is your first gym battle it'll be a two on two match".

Mark clenched his fist tightly on Pikachu's pokeball before throwing it forward. With a flash of light the electric rodent appeared on the field. If Mark had had another choice, he would've used either Spearow or Squirtle and would've not used Pikachu at all in this gym battle, seeing as Pikachu was an electric type and Geodude was part ground type he was at an extreme disadvantage. Unfortunately Spearow was out of commission from her battle with Team Rocket, and he wanted to save Squirtle for last, so hopefully Pikachu would be able to do something. Brock seemed to be passive, waiting for Mark to make the first move. It took Mark a few seconds to remember what moves Pikachu knew.

"Pikachu, start off with a Quick Attack" called Mark. Pikachu looked back and nodded, the electric type charged full speed at the Geodude.

"Geodude pick up one of the rocks on the ground and use it to keep Pikachu at bay" said Brock. Geodude hefted a rock picked out from the field, Geodude used said rock to bat the charging Pikachu away.

"Pikachu, break the rock with Iron tail" called Mark. "Pika" said Pikachu in return, the electric mouse's tail began to shine silver and he met the rock with his tail, shattering it. "Now hit him" said Mark. Pikachu put his front feet on the ground and fought against his momentum to hit Geodude head on. The attack may have been a direct hit but it wasn't enough to lay the rock type low.

"Geodude, use Stealth rocks, and use Pinball Technique" Brock commanded. "Geo" said Geodude, producing a multitude of floating and stationary rocks all across the field. Mark should've figured Brock would throw out a Technique. Techniques were specific combos of attacks that have become commonplace in gyms in recent years, and of course Mark had no idea what Pinball Technique was.

"Pikachu, use Quick attack to dodge" called out Mark. His pokemon nodded and sprinted to the side just in time to dodge a Rollout from Brock's Geodude. Unfortunately, Pikachu wasn't Geodude's target, Brock's pokemon slammed into one of the stealth rocks and bounced off of it as if it'd bounced off of a trampoline. "Jump Pikachu" said Mark. Pikachu did as he was told and leapt clear of the rolling pokemon, but that wasn't all.

Geodude bounced off of another Stealth rock, and another, he was building up speed. Finally, Geodude slammed into Pikachu, knocking the Electric type back. Pikachu struggled to stand but he did succeed on getting back to his feet. "Pikachu use Iron Tail again" called Mark. Pikachu charged at Geodude who'd stopped using the Pinball technique.

"Rock Throw" was Brock's order. Geodude hefted a large stone and tossed it at Pikachu who failed to get out of the way in time and was fainted. "Are you sure you're ready for this challenge" Brock commented as Mark returned Pikachu to his pokeball. Mark gritted his teeth and threw Squirtle's pokeball, the blue turtle pokemon appeared on the field.

"Squirtle go, Rapid spin" Mark roared. Brock sighed at his inability to get through to the trainer whose inexperience was showing.

"Use Rollout Geodude" was the gym leader's response. The two attacks met, this time with Geodude not being able to take the damage and fainting. Mark gave a crooked grin of triumph. Brock took another pokeball into his hand, he threw it to release a towering onix which took up most of the field. "Use rage" said Brock. The Onix roared and headbutted Squirtle into the surrounding moat of water.

"Squirtle, get back on the field and use Water gun" Mark demanded hoping Squirtle could hear his command from underwater. Luckily it did, Squirtle leapt from the moat and opened his mouth letting out a stream of rushing water that struck Onix head on.

"Rage again" was Brock's attack. Onix opened its eyes and shook off the water it roared again and rammed into squirtle again.

"Squirtle use pound" Mark barked, Squirtle caught himself as he was shoved backwards and slammed into Onix's body. Mark didn't even consider Brock may have a plan with letting Onix take two attacks without commanding a dodge.

"Onix use Slam" said Brock, Onix roared again and performed a massive bodyslam which sent Squirtle flying into one of the remaining stealth rocks, the water type fainted as it hit the ground. A voice came out over a loud speaker.

"The Battle is over, Gym Leader Brock is the winner" it said. Mark grumbled and returned Squirtle to his pokeball.

"Train a bit before you come back, and it might help you to learn exactly what some moves do" called Brock as Mark walked away. He made his way back to the pokemon center where he found his newly healed Spearow waiting, Mark dropped off Pikachu and Squirtle for healing. He plopped down on a chair with Spearow resting on his shoulder cursing himself for being so stupid.

**Back with Charlotte and Dex**

After a day of rigorous training Dex and Charlotte decided their pokemon were ready for a rematch against the Viridian forest Guardians. The two of them were walking through the forest Dex was whistling good naturedly as Charlotte looked left and right to make sure the Guardians didn't get the drop on them. "Hey Charlotte, why do you think they didn't rename the forest like they did the city" he asked?

Charlotte shrugged while she moved taking a close look at a shivering bush which turned out to be a rattata which took one look at the duo and ran back into the forest. "Guess they didn't feel like it" said Charlotte. Dex was about to add more to the conversation but he stopped when three familiar figures rushed out of the trees.

"You two must be gluttons for punishment" called out the short man. Picking out a pokeball and throwing it to the ground, in a flash of light his Beedrill hovered beside of him.

"I hope you've been training if you think you'll get past us" said the woman who released her Rattata.

"You can count on that" said Dex with a smirk, releasing Nidoran. Charlotte released her Bulbasaur realizing there was no way Metapod would be able to keep up with her opponent's Rattata, personally she thought Dex should've changed up his strategy and used Charmander but he hadn't budged when they'd discussed strategy, apparently Nidoran's self-esteem was more important to him than a victory.

"Nidoran use Focus Energy" commanded Dex, Nidoran stood stock still apparently gathering his energy for an attack. The short man laughed.

"If you think I'm going to let you do a bunch of those you're insane" he said. "Beedrill hit it with Fury Attack". Beedrill flew forward both of the drills on its arms poised to attack.

"Dodge it Nidoran" called Dex. Nidoran ducked Beedrill's first attack, the small spiky poison type ducked and dodged the rest of Beedrill's blows. "Now use Leer, followed by a Double Kick" was Dex's command. Nidoran glared at the Beedrill causing the wasp pokemon to back off a bit, immediately Nidoran hopped forward and while doing a flip hit the Beedrill with two strong kicks, which with the Leer, and Focus energy knocked the Beedrill out cold.

Charlotte had a much easier time with Rattata, "Leech seed Bulbasaur" she shouted. A seed flew at Rattata and dug itself into the purple rat.

"Hyper fang Rattata" the woman demanded. Rattata rushed forward and sunk its fangs into Bulbasaur's bulb.

"Throw him off with vine whip Bulbasaur" Charlotte said. Bulbasaur wrapped a vine around the still biting Rattata and flung it hard into the ground. The Rattata pushed itself onto its feet badly beaten but not out of the fight yet, the leech seed took affect however, and the Rattata fell over onto its side defeated. The middle man looked at both of his defeated henchmen.

"They must've trained hard, or you two got lazy, we'll see with the outcome of this next battle. I'll take both of you on" said the man who happened to be dressed up like some sort of Samurai. He threw a pokeball and out came a Raticate which looked over both Charlotte, and Dex with beady eyes. Dex and Charlotte both put their active pokemon back into their pokeballs realizing they both deserved a rest.

"It's your turn Charmander" said Dex, throwing his starter's pokeball. The pokemon visibly shivered when she saw her intimidating looking opponent, she regained face quite quickly.

"Get'em Metapod" said Charlotte releasing the crescent shaped bug type, who narrowed his eyes at the Raticate.

"Raticate use Hyper Fang on the Charmander" said the Samurai. Raticate charged at Charmander.

"Metapod use harden" said Charlotte. The Bug pokemon was surrounded by a shiny steel coating.

"Charmander use Ember" called Dex. Charmander spat out a fireball which hit Raticate directly but barely slowed it down.

"Now use String shot" called Charlotte Metapod threw a string of thread right at Raticate the strings surrounded the normal type and this time they stopped it in its tracks.

"Cut through that string and change targets Raticate" commanded the Samurai. Raticate turned towards Metapod and growled angrily, it rushed at the bug type.

"Use Harden again Metapod" said Charlotte, shooting a look at Dex to let him know she had a plan and didn't want him to get in the way. The Raticate finally got to its target and bit down hard on Metapod which only caused the rat to squeak in surprise, it felt like it was biting steel. "Tackle" shouted Charlotte. Metapod hopped forward and crashed into Raticate knocking it back, and then Metapod began to glow. When the glowing subsided Metapod had grown a pair of wings, he had become a Butterfree.

Charlotte realized that with his evolution Butterfree would've learned some new moves. "Butterfree, let's try out sleep powder" she gambled. Butterfree made a squeaking noise and flew over the Raticate coating it in purple powder. The Raticate struggled to keep its eyes open as it tried to fight off drowsiness, it didn't work out in Raticate's favor, the fat rat pokemon fell forward and began to snore.

"Butterfree, try a gust" said Charlotte.

"Charmander, help Butterfree with Fury Swipes" said Dex. The Samurai was silent, he knew he'd basically lost, he didn't stand much of a chance now that his Raticate had been knocked out. Butterfree flapped his wings quickly kicking up a whirlwind which blew aggressively around Raticate. Charmander rushed forward and clawed at Raticate multiple times. The rat couldn't take it, he didn't recover from the sleep powder and the Samurai was forced to return it to its pokeball.

"You did train, apparently, or I got too cocky" said the Samurai, "Pewter's down that path". The three Guardians disappeared into the forest. Dex walked forward and picked up Charmander.

"You did amazing" he exclaimed! Causing Charmander to revel in the praise and give a happy "Char".

"That was really good of you Butterfree, congratulations on evolving" said Charlotte, giving her bug type a good scratch under the chin. The Pokemon were returned to their pokeballs, and they walked down the path until they reached the looming shape of Pewter city.

"You think Mark might still be around" said Dex looking around as if Mark would be waiting for them at the entrance to town.

"Probably not, he probably beat Brock yesterday and is on his way through Mt. Moon as we speak" said Charlotte. Dex looked a bit disappointed.

"Well I'll take a look around for him anyway" said Dex, both of them were interrupted by a sound behind them "meow". They turned around to see a Meowth standing behind them. Charlotte crouched in front of the cat like pokemon.

"Well hello there, do you have a trainer" she said. Dex looked at her a bit taken aback by her out of character friendliness but then remembered that her mom and dad had a Persian she'd always gotten along with. The Meowth must remind her of that, at least it did until it hopped up, grabbed her cap, and bolted away. "Why you little, I was trying to be nice but, Bulbasaur vine whip" shouted Charlotte as she released Bulbasaur who caught the cat pokemon around the waist and pulled it back.

The Meowth looked at the Bulbasaur and scratched the bulb pokemon. "Hit him with tackle" said Charlotte obviously quite mad her hat had been stolen. The Meowth obviously wasn't too used to battling and fainted. Charlotte tossed a pokeball which wiggled a bit before it took, she picked it up and took her hat from the ground fixing it back on her head. "It's a relief to have this back, a trainer's not a trainer without a cap" she said. Dex didn't point out that Mark didn't wear a hat.

"So, you're heading straight to the gym" asked Dex? Charlotte returned Bulbasaur and holstered the two pokeballs on her belt.

"Yeah, I'll give it a shot. No point in lingering" she answered. Dex shrugged.

"I guess I'll meet you there when I'm done looking around" said Dex, and with that the two of them seperated. Dex released Charmander from her pokeball giving her a chance to have a bit of exercise. They passed a pokemon center, and a Pokemart. They stopped in front of the Pewter City Museum. The trainer and pokemon both looked up at the massive building.

"Hey kid" said a voice behind them. Dex turned to his left to find a muscled man leading a sad looking Machop around with a lead. "Are you a pokemon trainer" inquired the man? Dex nodded.

"Yep, why do y" Dex started to say but the second he said 'yep' the man went on.

"Would you mind taking this thing off my hands" said the man. Forcibly pushing the Machop forward, it gave a grunt of discomfort as the man pulled it forward.

"You want to just give away your pokemon" asked Dex. "I don't want to trade". The man shook his head.

"Naw you got it wrong kid, I'm not looking for trade anymore. I just gave up on that, I just want someone to take this weakling off my hands, I've trained a lot of fighting types and this one just isn't cutting it. I guess I could release it but I don't think it'd survive in the wild, I'm not a monster y'see" said the man. Dex looked at the Machop who looked very skinny, as if its trainer wasn't even feeding it, that wasn't even mentioning how tight the lead looked around its neck, he wasn't quite sure this man wasn't a monster.

"If that's the case I'll take it" Dex answered. He wanted to add, _to get it away from you _but didn't as the man passed him the lead, turned around and walked away. The first thing Dex did was bend down to take the lead off of Machop's neck. Machop's hands immediately went to its neck now that it could breath easily again. Dex reached into his pack and pulled out a small pack of pokemon food, the last little bit he had in there. He'd need to head to the store soon, if he could pick up some pokedollars. He opened it and offered it to Machop who grabbed a handful and stuffed it into his face. He looked back up at Dex and cocked his head at the trainer. Charmander walked forward and gave him a friendly smile. Machop didn't seem to know how to react to nice treatment. The fighting type's eyes filled with small tears and he reached forward giving Charmander a big hug.

"That guy must've not been too nice to you, huh" said Dex taking a seat as Machop released Charmander. "Well, things are gonna be a lot better from now on. I can't believe someone would treat another creature like that" said Dex. The first part was obviously directed towards Machop, the second was more like him talking to himself. Machop grinned happily and tried his best to also give Dex a hug, Dex smiled a little happy to know the Machop was already feeling a little better as he patted the little creature on the shoulder. Machop eventually finished and backed off a little looking from Charmander, to Dex unsure of what to do next. "I'm not sure I can put you into a pokeball, but I'll give it a try" said Dex. Pulling out a pokeball and offering it to Machop.

Machop met the pokeball gently with his fist and the pokemon went into the pokeball. It immediately went into the ball with no trouble at all. "So, he did release it. Wonder why he lied" said Dex putting Machop's pokeball onto his belt. "Well, Charmander, let's head over to the gym and see how Charlotte's doing" he said. Putting Charmander back into her pokeball. He moved through the city until he found himself in front of the gym.

He walked in and noticed a large screen on the right wall. A Bulbasaur which looked to have taken heavy damage was facing off against a large bat-like pokemon, which according to the screen was called Golbat. That must be Charlotte's battle, or it was, the Golbat's next attack knocked out the Bulbasaur. In a few minutes a sad looking Charlotte walked through a door and looked at Dex. "Oh, hey Dex. I lost, guess I'll have to train, again" said Charlotte.

"I saw the last bit, I'm sure you'll do better next time. Oh, and I got a new pokemon. I'll introduce you after I challenge Brock" he said. Charlotte nodded but she wasn't listening, she was already planning her next challenge. Dex walked through the doors and stopped to find Brock standing there with his arms crossed.

"I'm having a lot more challengers then usual" said the gym leader nonchalantly.

"Speaking of which, did you happen to be challenged by a brown-haired boy around my age, he'd have a Squirtle, and a Spearow" asked Dex. Brock nodded.

"I did, twice in fact. He beat me the other day, probably in Cerulean by now" said Brock. "He was a decent battler too, used one of my own tricks against me". Dex nodded, good to know Mark was still improving even if he didn't want to travel with his two best friends anymore.

"Well, I'm Dexter Oak from Pallet town, and I wanna challenge you for a Boulder Badge" said Dex. Brock looked a bit surprised.

"That means you're Gary's kid, did not expect that" said Brock. "Seems a lot of old acquaintence's kids are growing up" he laughed a bit, "It's making me feel old, I accept your challenge Oak". Dex threw a pokeball that released Charmander. Brock let out a Geodude.

"Geodude use rock throw" shouted Brock. Geodude narrowed its eyes and threw a rock at Charmander.

"Duck it" said Dex, Charmander ducked to the side. "Now, use Metal claw" said Dex. Commanding Charmander to use the move she'd learned recently. Charmander rushed forward and slashed the Geodude across the face, hitting it hard. Geodude recovered and awaited command from its trainer.

"You might be the strongest out of my recent challengers, at least on your first try. Geodude stealth rocks" commanded Brock, about to use his Technique. Dex wasn't about to have it though.

"Use metal claw again Charmander" said Dex. Charmander used the steel type attack and the Geodude couldn't take the second one. Geodude fainted.

Brock returned Geodude and threw another pokeball releasing an Onix. "Use rage Onix" said Brock.

"Metal claw again Charmander" said Dex knowing full well that Charmander's other attacks would have little effect.

"Getting predictable now" Brock observed as Onix was hit and threw Charmander back. "Onix use rock tomb". Onix roared and threw three large boulders out of its mouth. Charmander couldn't dodge in time and was fainted, making it obvious that due to her type disadvantage speed was the only reason she'd taken on Geodude so well.

"Come back Charmander, you've earned a rest" said Dex, he took another pokeball out after a bit of hesitation. Nidoran would be at a disadvantage, but he'd never used Machop in a battle before, not to mention the fighting type would take a bit longer to recover from its maltreatment by its previous trainer. "Go, Nidoran" shouted Dex releasing his second pokemon. "Use Double kick, fast" said Dex. Nidoran squeaked and hopped into the air hitting Onix before it could react.

"Onix, use tackle" said Brock.

"Counter with, horn attack" said Dex. The purple rabbit met the Onix head on and surprisingly their attack power seemed about equal, neither could push the other.

"Onix use rage" said Brock. Onix grunted and pushed Nidoran back. Nidoran kept all four feet on the ground and he was suddenly surrounded in a bright light. Nidoran grew in size and gained multiple new spikes as well as a larger horn as he evolved into a Nidorino.

"Use horn attack" called Dex. Nidorino roared and charged forward slamming into Onix at full force, Nidorino's new larger size was enough to knock Onix into a stealthrock. Onix fell after that and did not rise.

"Congratulations, Dexter you beat me fair and square, it's my honor to bestow upon you the Boulder Badge" said Brock walking forward. After he returned Onix he presented a small medal to Dex who couldn't believe he'd managed to win it.

"That was great, Nidorino" said Dex. Planting a hand on Nidorino's head. The newly evolved pokemon grunted and aggressively shook Dex's hand off. Dex frowned a bit as Brock walked away. Nidorino's evolution seemed to have made him moodier. Dex returned Nidorino to his pokeball and left the gym. Waving to Charlotte who had been waiting for him.

A long way away at the exit of a tunnel a brown haired boy walked into the sun, flanked by a Squirtle. He looked ahead and noticed the buildings that made up Cerulean city ahead of him. Mark smiled and looked to Squirtle, "Time to get another badge Squirtle" he said. Squirtle grinned and the two walked down the hill towards the town.

**And that's chapter two finished. I do apologize that it took me so long to get this chapter out and I would like to thank you for reading this far. When it comes to the lengths of chapters this is by far the longest story I've written on this site, and I do hope that I didn't disappoint anyone by skipping over Charlotte's match with Brock, and Mark's rematch. I just don't want the story to get too repetitive. So I won't put too many major battles in one chapter at least not victorious ones and I'll try to get chapter three out as soon as possible.**


	3. Chapter 3

Mark stood with his hands on his sides, staring up at a sign that advertised a show at a local marina. He scoffed, shaking his head. At least they'd split the shows away from the gym. Mark had just finished buying supplies from the local Pokemart, he'd used his winnings from the Pewter Gym to do so. It'd taken strategy to win that battle, but to be honest all he'd really needed to win was Squirtle.

"Where to train" he said to himself. Mark knew he probably needed to train before taking on the Cerulean Gym but he didn't know enough about the local geography to know where exactly to train. As Mark was moving around town, he spotted a pokemon center and began to speak to the Nurse Joy at the counter. Mark always felt a little awkward speaking to the pink haired woman. All of them looked the same, which lead to some confusion the first few centers he had entered. He asked her about getting a room to sleep incase his training took multiple days.

She pointed to some stairs behind them and Mark nodded, he was about to go up the stairs when he heard the door open, followed by loud footsteps. He turned to see a skinny, red haired girl running towards him. "Hello" she said looking disheveled. Her eyes went right to Mark's belt where his pokeballs were holstered. "Oh thank goodness you're a trainer. Please help me, some men on the bridge stole my pokemon. Please help me get her back" she pleaded. Mark cocked his head at her, unsure of what to say to her question. He knew he'd be pretty upset if Squirtle, Pikachu, or Spearow somehow got stolen away from him. But he wanted to challenge the Cerulean Gym as quickly as possible.

He sighed, "Yeah, I'll help you out, lead me to the bridge" Mark promised. The girl looked like her prayer had been answered which it technically had. She sped out the door with Mark on her tail, she went left and up the road before turning right. They stopped in front of a massive bridge, a group of five trainers stood on it. Mark looked at the girl, "Which one of them took your pokemon" he asked? Her eyes raked the trainers but she shook her head.

"I don't think that it was any one of them" she answered, Mark nodded and stepped forward. One trainer stepped forward and held out a hand.

"Halt trainer. To pass over the Nugget Bridge you have to beat every single one of us in a battle" said the trainer. Mark smirked, this was as good an opportunity to train as any other.

"You're on" challenged Mark, grabbing a pokeball off of his belt and throwing it forth. Spearow appeared and cawed.

The girl looked a little shocked. "But... My pokemon" she said. Mark looked over.

"It's not like we can pass without me beating them, unless you have a boat or a big water type" Mark retorted. She sat down on the ground obviously not satisfied with the answer but not having an argument against it.

"You seem sure of yourself, but you will not prevail" said the other trainer. Releasing his own pokemon, a red eyed Venonat.

"Venonat use poison powder" shouted the challenger. The Venonat squeaked and spewed a thick mist of poison.

"Spearow, take to the air and disperse that mist with gust" Mark ordered. Spearow nodded and flapped upwards she worked her wings in overdrive generating a powerful force of air which easily dispersed the mist and attacked the poison type. The Venonat was knocked back a few paces but still recovered and glared at the bird pokemon.

"Use fury attack" shouted Mark. Spearow cawed and dived straight into Venonat, Spearow repeated this dive bombing another three times. Leaving the brutalized poison bug lying on the ground fainted.

The first challenger held his head low as he returned his Venonat. The girl sat off to the side as she watched the battle becoming a bit more impressed with this boy she'd found. He released a Pikachu next which took on his next challenger without issue, after that he released a Squirtle.

That water type took down the next two challenger's pokemon like they were nothing. That left one a lass stepped forward and threw out her pokemon. A female Nidoran.

"Nidoran use double kick" shouted the lass, the Nidoran squeaked and charged forward delivering a pair of powerful kicks to Squirtle's head. The turtle pokemon cringed but kept on his feet.

"Water Gun Squirtle" Mark commanded, Squirtle opened his mouth and let loose a stream of water sending the Nidoran sprawling. "Follow up with rapid spin". Squirtle retracted into his shell and slammed into Nidoran again sending the poison type flying.

The small spiky rabbit pokemon stood shakily. "Use poison sting" commanded the lass, the rabbit fired off a small purple dart which shattered against Squirtle's shell.

"Finish with bubble" commanded Mark, Squirtle opened his mouth once more and out came a flurry of bubbles which surrounded the Nidoran and popped. In its weakened state the Nidoran couldn't take it. It collapsed on its side. Squirtle gave a mighty battle cry and held both of his arms up in a flexing motion, a flash of light began to surround Squirtle and the small water type began to grow in size.

The light dispersed and Squirtle had evolved into Wartortle. The newly evolved water type gave off a cry of "Wartortle" as if trying out his new deeper voice. "Good work Wartortle, I think we'll be passing now" said Mark a bit smugly. Mark returned Wartortle to his pokeball. The girl hopped up and began to rush forward.

Mark followed at a more relaxed pace, "hey there kid" came a voice to his left. Mark followed the sound to find a tall man dressed in black had appeared. "I watched you take on those trainers and I've got to say it was impressive. We could use strong trainers like you in Team Rocket, you wanna join" the man extended a hand.

Mark turned away, "not a chance" answered Mark going to follow the girl.

"Well that's unfortunate, but we could still use those pokemon of yours" said the Rocket Grunt. Mark heard a hiss as the Rocket Grunt released his pokemon, Ekans the snake pokemon. Mark threw out the first pokeball he could reach, "Bind Ekans" commanded the grunt.

"Thunderbolt" said Mark as the snake wrapped around him, impeding his movement.

The grunt laughed, "can't save your trainer if my Ekans is attached to him can ya" he mocked. The girl reappeared around the corner.

"It's you! Give me my pokemon back" she demanded. Starting to run at the grunt, he chuckled and threw another pokeball, a weepinbell appeared and stopped her in her tracks. Pikachu seemed to not know what to do the yellow mouse pokemon looked from Mark to the grunt trying to decide what to do. A thunderbolt would definitely call off the Ekans but he couldn't use it without hurting his trainer.

"Just do it Pikachu, I can take it" insisted Mark struggling against the snake which was tightening its bind. Pikachu closed his eyes and let loose a thunderbolt striking the snake and Mark simultaneously. Mark gritted his teeth together as the Ekans let out a cry of pain, the snake uncoiled and fell to the ground as it fainted. The grunt practically jumped in surprise. A bit of smoke came off of Mark's hair and he was covered in burns but he seemed to be more mad then hurt. He released his other two pokemon, Wartortle looked at its trainer noticed his state and fixed Pikachu with an accusatory glare.

"Pikapi" said Pikachu desperately waving his little arms around, explaining the situation. Wartortle turned his glare on the grunt, Spearow looked in a downright murderous mood. "Give her the pokemon and you won't get too hurt" promised Mark.

The grunt took a step back and raised his hands defensively. "B-b-b-b-but I don't even have it anymore. I gave it to HQ" said the grunt. Suddenly the Weepinbell threw a Razor Leaf attack at them.

Mark ducked it, Spearow dive bombed the plant pokemon knocking it out. Mark turned back to the cornered grunt. "Gonna be honest now" he asked?

The grunt pulled back a small tree revealing a huddled Paras in a cage. "There's the critter just leave me be" the grunt fell to the ground and tried to shield his head with his arms. Mark grunted angrily but simply turned to Wartortle.

"Use rapid spin on the cage" said Mark. Wartortle nodded and retracted into his shell before smacking into the cage. The bars shattered and the Paras hopped out of the cage and scurried over to the girl she picked up the bug type and hugged it tightly.

Mark turned back to her as the grunt crawled away, "glad to be of service" he said only a tad bit bad temperedly.

She looked back up, "Thank you, I never really gave you my name. I'm Hannah" she said introducing herself and extending a hand. Mark ignored it and returned his pokemon to their pokeballs before walking towards the bridge.

"Mark" he said giving her a backwards wave. Hannah gave a harrumph at his rudeness and hugged Paras again making her own way back towards the bridge.

**Back with Dex and Charlotte.**

Dex and Charlotte sat at a pokemon center having a hastily prepared lunch. Butterfree, Bulbasaur, Charmander and Machop sat around them eating bits of pokemon food. Meowth was out of his pokeball as well however the cat pokemon refused to sit at the table eating his snack away from them. Dex had wisely decided to not release Nidorino for this meal, he'd make sure to feed the aggressive poison type later but having Nidorino around in a even slightly crowded building didn't seem like a good idea.

"So, do you have a better strategy to fight Brock this time" asked Dex? Charlotte looked up and hit her own forehead in annoyance.

"No, I don't. I thought I'd have a big advantage with Bulbasaur but he's tricky. I knew Butterfree would be at a disadvantage so I sent in Meowth first but he refuses to obey commands" said Charlotte glaring pointedly in the cat pokemon's direction. Meowth stuck his tongue out at her. "So, Brock disqualified him and Bulbasaur beat his Bonsly, but his Golbat proved to be too strong" Charlotte finished.

"Well, why won't Meowth listen to you" asked Dex? "I've never had that problem, even though I'm not too sure about Nidorino anymore".

Charlotte sighed "I don't really know if I'm being honest with you. He just refuses to listen to my commands". Dex looked over at Meowth who turned to glare at the boy in turn.

"He seems sassy" Dex commented. Charlotte perked up.

"That reminds me of something" she said she took out the pokedex and aimed it at the Meowth looking at the profile. "He is sassy. Sassy natured, and his characteristic is Mischievous" she discovered.

Meowth meowed in her direction. "I don't see how knowing that helps" said Dex rubbing his head.

"I have an idea" said Charlotte walking over to Meowth who stood up and crossed his arms looking up challengingly at his trainer. "You don't like take orders" said Charlotte. "Well, unfortunately you can't win if you won't listen to me, and winning is more fun than losing right". Meowth looked away obviously mulling over her logic. It looked back and nodded again. "I'm glad we see eye to eye on that, well I think we can win against that guy who beat us yesterday, if you'll listen to me". Meowth made an annoyed grunt and sat back down. It looked up at Charlotte apparently ready to hear her out.

Charlotte grinned and sat down to tell the cat pokemon her strategy.

**The next morning**

Charlotte and Dex walked into the Pewter city gym. Dex walked through a door which read SPECTATORS. "I'll be watching and rooting for you" said Dex.

Charlotte grinned at her friend and walked through the large door where she saw Brock waiting. "Back again Charlotte Luther" said the gym leader. "Didn't take you long".

"I think I've got a good enough strategy" said Charlotte. She threw forward the pokeball in her hand and Meowth stood in the field glaring at Brock. The gym leader released his own pokemon, Geodude.

"Hope you finally got that thing to listen to you. Geodude use stealth rocks" shouted Brock.

"Use fake out Meowth" said Charlotte. Meowth grinned and sped forward smacking Geodude across the face and canceling its attack.

"Interesting strategy but it'll take more than that" Brock revealed. "Geodude use rock throw".

"Dodge it and use U-turn" Charlotte commanded. Meowth hopped to the side and rammed into Geodude, before returning to it's pokeball. Charlotte threw another ball and Ivysaur appeared.

"You evolved your Bulbasaur" said Brock a little surprised. Charlotte smirked proud of her strategy, after that conversation with Meowth she'd spent the day training Bulbasaur until she had evolved. Completing Charlotte's strategy.

"Use vine whip Ivysaur" Charlotte commanded. Ivysaur threw out a whip which slapped Geodude and sent it flying into the water. Brock returned Geodude and threw forth Onix, who came out of the flash roaring.

"Onix use rock tomb" Brock commanded. Onix slammed its head into the ground and brought up three huge boulders which it sent flying at Ivysaur.

"Ivysaur use vine whip to hit those rocks away, and then use sleep powder" Charlotte said. Ivysaur nodded in affirmation and let loose a vine whip which diverted the boulders slightly so that they missed. Ivysaur jumped at Onix and released a cloud of purple spores from the flower on her back which caused the Onix's eyes to droop until it fell forward asleep. "Now use vine whip until it faints" Charlotte commanded.

Ivysaur let forth a battle cry and mercilessly whipped the Onix multiple times until the rock type couldn't recover. Brock returned his pokemon and took a few steps forward. He held out a small plaque which at the center rested the Boulder Badge. "That was an interesting strategy. You earned this one" said Brock. Charlotte couldn't contain her excitement as she took the badge and left the room. Ivysaur following her, they met Dex in the main room who congratulated them on a job well done.

The two of them went across the route which lead them to the massive and intimidating Mt. Moon. "So we have to go through that to reach Cerulean where we'll get our second badge" said Dex rubbing his chin. Charlotte who'd returned Ivysaur after they'd entered the route nodded.

"Yeah that's right" she confirmed.

"Wait a minute kids" said a distressed voice behind them. Charlotte and Dex turned to see a Hiker running up to them. "Don't go into that cave. It's the home of an angry group of Clefairy, they attack anyone who tries to pass through" the Hiker told them. Charlotte and Dex looked at each other and back to the cave.

"Is there another way around to Cerulean" asked Charlotte? The hiker shook his head. "Well, we don't really have much of a choice then if we want to get eight badges before the league starts".

"I've been meaning to take care of this" said a familiar voice, they looked over and noticed that Brock was walking towards them. "No better time than the present I guess, would you two be willing to give me a hand? I'm not really sure how many Clefairy have taken up in there".

"We've got to pass through anyway, what do you think Charlotte" asked Dex? Charlotte nodded at the gym leader.

"You can count on us sir" she answered. Brock smiled.

"I'm glad to hear that, once we enter the cave we'll have to be on our guard. Didn't you have a poison type, that'll work well with my Crobat against them" said Brock, pointing to Dex.

"Oh yeah, Nidorino would do well against fairy types" agreed Dex pulling Nidorino's pokeball off of his belt.

"Ivysaur is part poison type" Charlotte pointed out, releasing her partner. Brock nodded.

"That's true, does it know any poison moves" he asked?

"Well, she knows poison powder" Charlotte answered.

"That won't help us much against a large mob" Brock thought out loud beginning to enter the cave. Charlotte entered the cave behind him while Dex followed her. "Release your pokemon, the more eyes we have the better" Brock advised throwing two pokeballs of his own. The four-winged purple Crobat, as well as the huge silver Steelix appeared with a flash. Dex released Charmander and Machop, being grateful for the extra light provided by the flame on the tip of Charmander's tail. Charlotte released Meowth, and Butterfree, Meowth looked around shiftily taking in his surroundings. After a moment of hesitation Dex threw Nidorino's pokeball and the armored poison type narrowed his eyes while looking at Brock's and Charlotte's pokemon.

The group began to move forward all of their eyes roving their surroudings. It was Meowth who spotted the first Clefairy. The cat pokemon pointed and the humans turned to see the pointy eared pokemon watching them. When it realized their notice, it turned around and sped away. "Won't be long now, that way" commented Brock changing direction. Steelix let out a rumble as they entered a huge chamber.

Suddenly three moonblast's flew from the ceiling, they made contact with Brock's Steelix who shook them off and roared. Clefairy began to flood the chamber. "Here we go" said Brock. "Steelix use Iron tail, Crobat cross poison". Steelix roared and slammed his tail into the mob sending Clefairy flying, Crobat dived through the flood and took out multiple Clefairy.

"Ivysaur use razor leaf, Meowth fury swipes, Butterfree sleep powder" Charlotte commanded, her three pokemon did as they were commanded thinning out the Clefairy even more.

"Charmander use ember, Machop use low kick, Nidorino hit them with poison jab" Dex said. Charmander and Machop listened to him and attacked the Clefairy, but Nidorino roared and charged into the mob completely ignoring his trainer, his charge did however knock more than a few of the fairy types aside. "Nidorino get back here" Dex shouted to no avail as Nidorino ran through the Clefairy like an insane battering ram.

The fight was chaotic and luckily for Charlotte and Dex's weaker pokemon most of the Clefairy had focused their efforts on toppling Steelix. The iron serpent thrashed from side to side knocking away the aggressive pokemon. The battle was in its ending when Dex caught sight of Nidorino.

The poison type was facing down a Clefable, Nidorino was already obviously exhausted from his reckless strategy of fighting beforehand. Dex didn't think, he took off and covered the distance surprisingly quickly. "Back off" Dex yelled as he shouldered into the Clefable in an attempt to assist his pokemon. The Clefable did not budge. It pushed back and sent Dex flying onto his back. Nidorino looked down at his trainer for a moment then narrowed his eyes and barreled into the Clefable, who pushed Nidorino off as well.

Suddenly the Clefable seemed to lose its footing. Machop had snuck behind! The Fighting Type used Low Sweep behind the Clefable obviously trying to make it lose its footing but the space pokemon turned around with a vengeful look on its face as a large fireball hit the back of its head. Dex began to pull himself up with the help of Nidorino as he watched a red lizard like pokemon attack the Clefable and actually manage to push it back.

Charmander had evolved to beat back the Clefable, and in her new form as Charmeleon was succeeding. Charmeleon hissed and delivered a slash across Clefable's face as the Clefable returned a punch. Charmeleon growled angrily as she wheeled around and slapped the Clefable off of its feet with her tail. The Clefable slowly pushed itself up and noticing that its horde had been defeated turned and fled. Charmeleon let off a small puff of smoke and turned around immediately looking concerned.

She joined Dex and looked up at him with a look that obviously asked, 'are you okay' Dex crouched to get face to face. "I'm alright. Thanks, all of you. You all did amazing" said Dex praising all of his pokemon. Charmeleon gave him a happy look, Machop hopped up and down excitedly, Nidorino didn't look as happy as the other two as he ducked his head slightly shamefully. "I hope you see why you need to listen to me now, we're a team and we're all gonna look out for each other right" Dex asked? Charmeleon nodded and crossed her arms, Machop flexed trying to look tough, Nidorino looked up and gave a slight grin in agreement.

"Are you okay" Dex turned to see Charlotte rushing over. She took Dex's arm in her hand to inspect a bruise. "I've got a few things in my pack to take care of bruises hold still" she commanded sitting down to dig into her bag. Meowth must've fainted during the battle as the mischievous cat pokemon wasn't present behind Charlotte but Butterfree hovered above her and Ivysaur watched intently as she emptied the contents of her bag.

"You kids didn't do half bad" commented Brock joining them. His Steelix was resting inside of a pokeball but Crobat hovered behind him watching them lazily. "Probably not smart to hang around here" he said. Charlotte shook her head and took out a rag soaked in some little concoction she must've made in her free time.

"I'll be done quick. My mom taught me a lot about this kind of stuff. I'm no substitute for a real nurse but I can fix some bruises. Dex quit wiggling" Charlotte scolded rubbing the rag on Dex's sore arm. Dex chuckled a little.

"I'll stop wiggling when you stop tickling me" he said between giggles. Once that was attended to the three of them turned around and headed out of the tunnel, Brock going to make sure the two of them made it out of the cave safely and once that was done, he turned around and made his way back to Pewter.

**Meanwhile with Mark**

"Use thunderbolt Pikachu" Mark Shouted. He stood on a wooden plank bridge while Pikachu hopped across a stepping stone to dodge a Psybeam from a trainer's Staryu. Sparks flew from Pikachu's cheek pouches as he charged up his attack, moments later a jagged arc of lightning flew from the Electric mouse and locked onto the starfish pokemon knocking it out cold.

The gym trainer huffed and returned his pokemon. "I guess you've proven yourself. Move forward and fight Misty" The gatekeeper turned and sulked away. Mark grunted and returned Pikachu to save him the trouble of getting back to the plank bridge. Mark pushed open the door and found the Cerulean Gym Leader, Misty waiting for him. The red-haired woman lazily juggled a pokeball in her right hand as she watched him come in.

The arena was mostly aquatic with a more then a few wooden platforms where a medium sized pokemon could stand. "Welcome challenger, I hate to be brief but I'm a bit busy right now so give me your best. This will just be a one on one bout" she said throwing her pokeball. A Seaking splashed into the water and surfaced looking at Mark, who released Wartortle and Pikachu. He looked between the two.

"Which one of you wants to take this" he asked? Wartortle immediately stepped forward and threw Pikachu a glare as if daring him to try and compete. Pikachu did not take Wartortle up on his challenge. Mark returned Pikachu and Wartortle dived into the water.

"Seaking use horn attack" Misty commanded, Seaking splashed vigorously and dived.

"Wartortle defend yourself with Withdraw" Mark commanded. Wartortle retreated into his shell, there was a loud clanging sound as Seaking attacked but had little to no affect on Wartortle's tough shell. "Retaliate with Rapid spin" Mark commanded. Wartortle's shell began to spin and it slammed into Seaking. The fish pokemon slammed against a platform and fainted. Mark hadn't expected that. "Is that it" he asked? Looking at Misty half expecting this to be some kind of trick.

"Yes, you've bested me. Good for you, take your badge and leave me to my conundrum" said Misty as a bridge split the arena and she offered a badge. Mark's right eye twitched a little.

"No, that's not right you're a gym leader. You're supposed to challenge me and make me surpass my limits, that was... Pathetic. I can't take that; I didn't earn it. You barely even tried to beat me" Mark complained. Misty shrugged and put away the badge.

"If you don't want it then it's not my problem. My daughter is about to go on a journey and I've been working myself ragged trying to find her a body guard" said Misty turning away. Mark stepped forward.

"Wait, what if I worked as a body guard, then would you let me have a rematch" Mark offered. Misty turned around now interested.

"That could work" she said looking him over. "If you go and bring my daughter back here safely then I'll allow you a rematch and I promise to give it my all. If you win you will gain my badge and accompany her to the Cinnabar Islands, if you lose you will not challenge this gym again". Said Misty, obviously not expecting him to be able to beat her when she played it serious.

"Where can I find her" said Mark crossing his arms and accepting her challenge.

"I expect that she will be hanging at the pokemaniac's house across the bridge. Her name is Hannah, I expect someone who thinks they could be a good body guard would be able to find her with that much information" said Misty turning and walking away.

Mark sighed as he recognized the name. What might he have gotten himself into? He turned and exited the gym followed by Wartortle.


	4. Chapter 4

After the episode inside of Mt. Moon Dex and Charlotte had walked down a hill where in the distance they glimpsed the group of buildings which had to be Cerulean City. Charlotte noticed Dex holding a shiny purple stone in his right hand. "Where did you get that" she asked? Dex looked at the rock for a few moments before responding.

"I don't really know. I found it at the exit of the cave, maybe a Clefairy dropped it when they were running away" Dex theorized. Charlotte leaned over to inspect it closely.

"I think that's a moonstone. It's a rare stone you can find in caves like mt moon which can evolve specific pokemon. Hey, I think you could evolve Nidorino into a Nidoking with that" she said. Dex listened to her, she had a point. Charlotte was good with remembering that sort of stuff. Dex had just thought it was a pretty rock, but if it had some kind of other use it made sense to use it. He released Nidorino who after the Clefairy battle had been far more obedient. Nidorino tilted his head at the two of them in curiosity for why he'd been summoned.

Dex offered the stone. "Charlotte thinks this stone will make you evolve. I figured I'd ask if you wanted me to use it" he said. Nidorino considered his words and the stone for a few moments before Nidorino turned his nose up to it. Dex nodded, "guess not" he said as he tucked the stone into his bag.

"Really? That's it" asked Charlotte? Dex shrugged patting Nidorino on the shoulder before returning him to his pokeball.

"Yeah, if he doesn't want to evolve then he doesn't have to" Dex said. Charlotte sighed Dex was more sentimental then she was. Personally she thought that having a more powerful pokemon would be the better idea but it wasn't her place to backseat train.

"When we get to Cerulean do you mind if we check out the Pokemaniac's house before we challenge the gym, I've heard he's got a lot of pokemon no one else has ever seen before" Charlotte asked all of a sudden?

Dex took a little stretch and nodded in agreement. "Sure if you want to, I'm in no rush. I hope we can find some new pokemon to catch". Charlotte gave her own grin of agreement as they entered the town.

"Wonder if we'll run into Mark here" Charlotte wondered looking around the town for where the bridge was. She knew they'd have to cross it to get to the pokemaniac's house.

"Hey check it out. They're doing a water show" Dex stopped to admire a poster on the side of a building.

"I've heard the gym leaders used to do those a lot. Maybe we can watch a little of one before we leave" Charlotte said. "I think the bridge is this way". Charlotte began to move off to the northernmost part of the city. There were a few trainers sitting around looking disappointed.

"What happened to all of you" Dex asked? A lass who sat on the tip of the bridge looked up.

"A trainer came through here; he beat us all twice and now we're just thinking up strategies to be tougher. I guess you can pass since we can't battle you" the lass said obviously upset.

"Okay" said Charlotte a little confused, when they passed by she leaned closer to Dex. "Think it was Mark that beat them"?

"Could be him. Mark does like beating people at things" Dex said in thought. Charlotte suddenly straightened up.

"I-I-I just felt something touch my back" she stammered. Dex looked behind them to see a yellow shrew looking pokemon was floating just behind Charlotte's head. He pulled out his pokedex and pointed it towards the pokemon.

_Abra, the psi pokemon. Using its ability to read minds, it will sense impending danger and teleport to safety._

"It's a psychic type" said Dex putting his pokedex away. _hello. _Came a voice inside of Dex's head. "Hi" said Dex. "Did you hear that too". Charlotte turned around and shook her head.

"Hear what" she asked? Dex looked to his right, and left. He even looked above them.

"Someone said hello" said Dex. He looked at the Abra who stood still staring at the pair impassively. "Was that you"? The Abra nodded, _I thought I felt a special connection within you. The fact that you can hear me only confirms that. _Dex blinked once. "Huh"?

"Are you okay" asked Charlotte looking from the Abra to her friend in a confused manner?

"This Abra can talk" Dex said matter of factly. _I can speak to you specifically. As a psychic type it is easier for me to communicate with a human. Of course, your biology makes it easier. If you do not mind me asking may I go with you as your pokemon _the Abra continued. It looked almost bashful now tapping two of its fingers together nervously. _It's okay if you don't want me. I realize in this state I am quite weak; I just want a trainer to make me strong and I feel a draw to you is all. _Dex rubbed the back of his neck. Not that he wanted to tell the Abra to get lost or anything he was just very confused in this situation.

"If you want to come along, I don't see a problem with that" said Dex. He'd have to get to the bottom of this. Charlotte was looking at him like he was off his rocker. Dex reached into his pack and pulled out a pokeball which he offered to the Abra. The Abra looked surprised. _Really!? You'll allow me to join your team. _Dex nodded. "If you want to" he said. The Abra shook his head. _No wait a minute this isn't right. I should battle you first. That's how these things are done. Right? _

"If that's what you'd prefer" Dex agreed. Putting the pokeball away, he pulled out another. Dex threw the pokeball to the ground, Machop stood on the bridge with them now. The fighting type cocked his head at the Abra.

"Oh, so you're battling now... Okay" said Charlotte taking a seat. "Good luck. I guess". Machop was a bad choice in this matchup what with fighting types being weak to psychic types but from what Charlotte had read about Abras they weren't exactly strong pokemon.

The Abra disappeared and reappeared behind of Machop, a tied up string of grass clutched at Machop's feet causing him to trip. "Counter with karate chop" Dex commanded. Machop turned and swiped at the Abra but he disappeared again. "When he shows up again use brick break" Dex ordered. Unfortunately Abra's great speed allowed him to avoid Machop's next attack.

"When he shows up behind you grab him and use seismic toss. Pay close attention this time he's really quick" Dex warned. Machop nodded and he was ready the next time Abra went on the offensive. Machop grabbed Abra by the tail.

Abra tried to teleport away but he took Machop with him. Now they were higher in the air. Machop shifted his weight and flung the psychic type into the bridge. The single attack seemed to be too much for the Abra. _You bested me _said the Abra lying on the ground. Machop landed well and looked up giving a jolly clap and a victory jig.

Dex threw a pokeball, which quickly shook three times before settling. Dex picked it up and returned Machop.

"Well that was something" Charlotte said. She got up and stretched. "Although I do have several questions".

"You two caught up quick" came a familiar voice coming from the other side of the bridge.

**Earlier with Mark**

Mark walked away from a maze of hedges. It had taken awhile to get through that maze what with all the trainers hiding inside of it. Spearow had handled all the battles splendidly. He figured she could use some more battle training so he'd allowed her to take care of the trainers. Now he stood in front of a charming little home.

This was where he'd find Hannah, he couldn't believe the girl he'd helped that morning was the gym leader's daughter. If Mark wasn't the child of a gym leader, he would've wondered why she didn't mention it. Mark was all too familiar with the large shadow that kind of parent could cast.

He stopped on the top step right in front of the door and knocked on it. There was a short pause before a young man with red hair opened the door. "Oh hello, I'm sorry I don't really have time to show off any pokemon right now. I'm a little busy with an experiment today" he explained. Mark shook his head.

"Uh, no. I'm not here to see any pokemon. I was sent here to make sure Hannah gets home safe. Is she inside" he asked? The young man gained an expression of understanding and disappeared inside. Hannah walked out next her little Paras was sitting on her shoulder. She didn't seem to have forgotten his rudeness from earlier.

"It's you again. What do you want" she asked? Her Paras made a tiny hissing noise while running its little claws through her hair.

"Your mom sent me to come get you" explained Mark. Hannah raised an eyebrow at him.

"Let me guess, she refused to battle you until you did something for her. She has got to stop doing that" Hannah complained. Mark's jaw flew open.

"You mean this isn't the first time she's done this" he said in disbelief? Hannah shook her head.

"Nope. More like the sixth or seventh. Well let's get going, and I'm gonna warn you she's going to use a very strong pokemon against you. You're probably gonna lose" Hannah said beginning to walk through the hedges. Mark grumbled angrily but followed her.

They got through the maze with relative ease now that the trainers were dealt with. Mark stopped on the bridge. Oh boy... It was them. Dex and Charlotte were standing on the bridge, he hadn't expected them to ever catch up to him. Now he'd have to explain himself. Mark did not really want to explain himself. "You two caught up quick" Mark called over to them. Hannah cocked her head at him.

"Friends of yours" she asked? Charlotte was the first to turn. She got an annoyed expression on her face.

"You have some explaining to do mister. What happened to all that talk about making our journey together? Why didn't you just tell us if you wanted to go on your own" Charlotte ranted.

Mark shrugged, "probably because I wanted to avoid... This". Charlotte gasped annoyed and looked away from him.

"Well why did you. I think you owe us an explanation at least" Dex said crossing his arms. Mark sighed, Hannah gave a chuckle at the drama taking a step back.

"I just wanted to do it on my own. I didn't want people to say I had to rely on my friends to get my eight badges and win the league. It's not about you two, I just figured I'd do better by myself" Mark fired back.

Dex nodded and Charlotte looked at him with disbelief. "I understand, but how about a battle to see how far we've come. How about a two on two" Dex offered. Mark nodded in agreement.

"Sure, I think that's a good idea" he said. Hannah was confused.

"What happened to that grumpy attitude of yours" she asked? Mark looked at her for a little bit but didn't say anything. Charlotte sighed and went to stand behind Mark out of the way.

"Those two bring out each other's competitive sides. The guy I showed up with would never say something so profound otherwise" said Charlotte. "Name's Charlotte".

Hannah giggled at that, "Hannah" she said. The two girls shook hands as the boys grabbed pokeballs out of their bags. Mark threw his and out came Wartortle ready for a brawl. Dex's pokemon appeared next as Nidorino appeared on the bridge.

"You evolved your pokemon" Mark observed.

"So have you" Dex commented.

"It has been a little bit hasn't it. Well I'm still gonna have to beat you. Wartortle use water gun" Mark commanded. Wartortle opened his mouth and fired a stream of water which hit Nidorino head on.

"Use take down" Dex shouted. Nidorino shook off the water and charged at Watortle.

"Withdraw Wartortle" Mark commanded. Wartortle withdrew into his shell just as Nidorino made contact. Wartortle's shell slammed into the side of the bridge and smacked back into Nidorino. The poison type was knocked back a step but recovered.

"Use bubble" Mark commanded.

Wartortle spat out a flurry of bubbles which surrounded Nidorino.

"Use poison jab" Dex commanded as a counter.

Nidorino opened his jaws and multiple arrows of poison flew at Wartortle. The bubbles popped around Nidorino as the arrows made contact with Wartortle.

The two pokemon watched each other aggressively as their attacks heavily affected each other.

"Use rapid spin Wartortle" Mark ordered.

"Counter with horn attack" Dex said.

Wartortle retreated into his shell once more which started to spin in Nidorino's direction. Nidorino roared ferociously and struck out with his horn catching Wartortle but not lessening the blow. The two pokemon separated and stared each other down. Until Nidorino fell onto his side fainted, quickly followed by Wartortle.

"They tied" Hannah observed. Charlotte disagreed.

"They've got one more each. We'll see what happens" Charlotte said.

Dex returned Nidorino. "Good job, Charmeleon it's your turn now" Dex threw a pokeball and Charmeleon arrived on the field. Mark recalled Wartortle and threw his next pokemon.

In a bright flash a large bird pokemon stood on the field. "Spearow just evolved recently, can't wait to see what she can do in this new form. Fearow use wing attack" Mark commanded. Fearow screeched and surged forward.

"Slam" was Dex's order. Charmeleon hissed and turned around quickly using her tail like a club she smacked Fearow across the beak. Fearow returned with a slap of her own sending Charmeleon falling onto her back.

"Trap her with fire spin" Dex shouted. Charmeleon picked herself up and charged at Fearow. Charmeleon whipped her tail forwards causing a circle of fire to surround the bird.

"Gust, and follow it up with fury attack" Mark said. Fearow flapped into the air sending a small twister which pulled Charmeleon off of her feet.

"Defend yourself with slash" Dex shouted. Charmeleon pushed herself up and blocked a thrust from Fearow's beak. Unfortunately, the fire type couldn't keep up with Fearow's speed. The rest of Fearow's attacks hit and they were more than Charmeleon could handle. The fire type fainted. Fearow screeched triumphantly flapping her wings.

"Your pokemon aren't weak, but they're not as good as mine" said Mark giving Fearow a head scratch before returning her to her pokeball.

"I can tell you've been training harder than me. I'll win next time" Dex vowed before returning Charmeleon. "Sorry Charlotte, I don't think I'll be going with you to see the pokemaniac. I've gotta get Nidorino and Charmeleon to the pokemon center".

Charlotte stood, "Oh no I understand. I'll wait with you. It'll be more fun if we go together anyway" she said. "Nice seeing you again... I guess" she said to Mark as they passed. He nodded in her direction as Hannah got up as well. The two groups went in different directions, Charlotte and Dex to the pokemon Center and Mark and Hannah to the gym.

Mark entered the building. Misty was standing in the first room, she turned towards them as the two of them entered the building. "I take it you'll want your rematch now" Misty guessed. Mark nodded.

"You'd be right" he said. Misty sighed and walked through the door leading to the battle section of the gym.

"Follow me, let's make this quick" she said.

Misty took a wooden path and stopped on the other side of the room as Mark stopped in the front of it. The room was pretty much the same as when Mark had made his first challenge. She released a Starmie which stood atop one of the wooden platforms. Mark released Pikachu who stood atop another platform.

"Starmie use ice beam" Misty commanded; a streak of ice came out of Starmie's gem.

"Pikachu use thunderbolt" Mark said. Pikachu's red cheeks sparked with electricity as he let loose a jagged arc of lightning which met the ice beam as it fired. Leaving a large cloud of smoke.

Mark gritted his teeth. He was not going to lose.

**This chapter may be pretty short but I think from here on out the chapters are going to be more around this length. Well to summarize this chapter Dex got an Abra and found out he's got some interesting abilities which will be expanded upon in later chapters. Mark's Spearow evolved off screen into a much stronger Fearow, and now Mark's going head to head with Misty for a Cascade badge. A simple warning that I've probably given before is to not expect me to write out each and every gym battle for each and every character, in fact I don't imagine I'm really going to cover any of the battles with Misty in great detail. I hope I didn't disappoint anyone too greatly with that, and if you have any gym battles you specifically wanna see between the protagonists and the gym leaders feel free to let me know I'll definitely take it into consideration. As always thanks for reading.**


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